March 2022 - 26

WATER GARDENING
JUST
ADD
Water
By Teresa McPherson
Photo courtesy of
Edward's Garden Center.
Considering dipping your toe in the water features space? Here's what you need to know.
S
ocial distancing and increased
outdoor entertaining due to
covid has led to significant
investment in improving home outdoor
living spaces, including water feature
installations. According to a study from
the Freedonia Group, homeowners were
inspired to add water features such
as fountains, ponds and waterfalls to
their outdoor areas to make them more
comfortable and aesthetically pleasing.
Dennis Gentry, water garden
department manager at Edward's
Garden Center in Forty Fort,
Pennsylvania, agrees. " Demand has
grown, and I think the increase is
because more people are staying at
home instead of vacationing. "
Demand for water features spiked
in 2020 despite stagnancy in the
commercial and recreation segments,
according to the Freedonia Group.
While the high number of units
sold in the residential market in
2020 is expected to lead to a slow
rate of expansion through 2025,
rebounding commercial construction
activity will aid gains, especially
in the office, lodging, retail, and
foodservice segments, where water
features will be installed as part of
larger improvement efforts to entice
customers to return.
A DIY Option
The Freedonia study reported that
the pandemic allowed consumers to
carve out more time to DIY projects,
promoting sales of fountains, pond kits,
and waterfall kits, which are easier to
install than more elaborate projects.
Gentry says as a retail and wholesale
garden center, the majority of their
customers install water features
themselves.
He says that in northeastern
Pennsylvania, " it seems like people
are getting away from ponds and are
investing in pondless waterfalls and
smaller water features and fountains.
They can enjoy the look and sound of
having a water feature with less required
maintenance than a pond requires. "
While demand growth for
landscaping water features will be
slow through 2025 as a result of the
26 | LAWN & GARDEN RETAILER | MARCH 2022
elevated demand levels of 2020, there
will still be strong interest in creating
aesthetically appealing outdoor living
spaces, which the pandemic intensified.
In addition, the sensory appeal of water
features - the sound and sight - is
also driving growth.
Things to Consider
For garden centers considering a
water gardening department, Gentry
suggests taking the time to build water
features on site " so they can see the ins
and outs of constructing them and also
get to know the maintenance involved
in keeping them nice. This helps when
selling the product.
" Having different displays on-site
allows the customer to literally see
and hear the water features and helps
them visualize it in their yard. On-site
water features definitely helps to sell
product, " he says.
" Water Features in Landscaping " is
available from the Freedonia Group.
For more information, visit www.
freedoniagroup.com.
http://www.freedoniagroup.com
March 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March 2022
